The Web Guy, Online Insights for Business
Announced early this morning on The Next Web Facebook Places is now officially live in the UK. Whilst there is no commercial aspect to the release at this point in the form of Ads, you can add locations to Facebook Pages. Currently you are unable to tag images or videos but this will come in future releases. Action point for businesses is to ensure they've added their Facebook Place location to their Facebook Page. … [Read more...]
Google do things at times that really change the game. Not only can the competition not keep up but they find it hard to know in what direction to go. In a further bid to dominate search, and at the benefit of the end user as well, Google has launched it's new search functionality "Instant". For an in depth explanation of instant please see the Google blog but I will provide a basic overview. Now when you search on Google, in addition to predictive suggestions appearing as you type, Google … [Read more...]
I've worked in the online arena for over 10 years now and when I look back over that time at all the projects I've worked on, companies I've worked for or with they have all had something in common. The expectation that I can create something from nothing and maybe they are right? Creating something from nothing in a web sense is a bit like alchemy, where you don't really start with nothing but that the "something" you do have is not quite tangible or in the right form. So what do you need to … [Read more...]
It's very easy to get caught up in the latest Social Media hype and the new applications hitting the news headlines but before you dive head first into Foursquare or Gowalla, have you done the basics? Googles Local Business Center should be the first stop for any business that has an office, outlet or other physical high street presence. Google gives you the ability to add very detailed information about your business including opening times, payment options, photos and even video. Your … [Read more...]
I got very excited this week, as I saw the opportunity for offline businesses to promote themselves effectively online was coming to fruition. Why would this excite me? Well, the majority of small businesses struggle to fully embrace the web due to either a lack of resource or budget. This then leaves them disheartened and of the view the web offers them nothing value, when in fact the opposite is true. These are exactly the type of businesses which should be harnessing it's power and … [Read more...]
Google's release of it's real-time search functionality is being greeted with mixed emotion. Along with opportunity words of caution are being expressed. Rae Hoffman of Outspoken Media highlights the opportunity not only for spam but also for the more unsavoury aspect of the web to rise to a promonent position, in his article "Google enables real time spam and more". Whilst this is undoubtedly true at present, I am sure Google will be onto these loopholes to ensure they deliver quality … [Read more...]
